Intel asks US court to throw out antitrust case

Intel has requested that a US federal judge dismiss a number of antitrust claims made against the company in a lawsuit filed by the attorney general’s office.

The case concerns allegation that Intel paid PC manufacturers to choose Intel chips over those of rival AMD, creating unfair competition and artificially hiking up the price of the chip giant’s products – ultimately damaging consumers.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Intel’s lawyers are insisting on a technicality that could prevent the US attorney general’s office – which has brought the case on behalf of around 4,000 public bodies – from bringing the claims to court.

The New York State law on which the attorney general’s office is relying, says Intel, relates only to claims brought on behalf of private individuals, not public institutions – because there is no evidence that the bodies in question have asked for the case to be brought.

Intel is also asking the judge to strike claims relating to purchases made before 2006, as these had been filed in Delaware under which there is a three-year statute of limitations.

The attorney general’s office has argued that the claims had been filed in Delaware purely as a matter of efficiency, and the three-year limit should not apply to a New York court.

US District Judge Leonard Stark said he would consider Intel’s arguments. The trial is expected to commence on the 14th of February, 2012.